We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jill Veysey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jill, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
Surrounding yourself with the things you love will always help keep creativity alive.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Fashion has always been a running theme in my life. From wearing vintage hand-me-downs, to raiding my friends’ parent’s closets, I have always had a love of clothing and the way it makes me feel. You truly can be anyone you want with a quick outfit change. Clothing lets you express yourself in so many ways, and for me, it brings out a fun, whimsical side of myself. I never take life too seriously, so one could say that my style echos this philosophy. As long as you feel good, you look good!
I started RetMod® Vintage Clothing & Accessories online in late 2015 with this in mind. In particular, I love how vintage clothing makes you feel. Vintage feels one-of-a-kind, unique, quirky and extremely expressive. So I knew I wanted to spread the love of fashion with RetMod®. What goes hand in hand is I also have a deep love of a hunt… I love finding and sourcing all the lovely clothing. I’m so happy digging through yard sales, thrift stores and estate sales, just to find those few fantastic vintage pieces. Although it is so much work, I love the transformation of an old, forgotten piece, cleaned, mended, and transformed into a beautiful, wearable garment. It’s not only very economical to wear vintage, it is also very ecological.. as it is always good to keep clothing out of the landfills.
So where can you find RetMod? Currently I sell online on RetMod.com. I currently have over a thousand pieces available for sale online. I also sell to films, stylists & photographers by private appointment. I’m currently about to launch a small collection on my site that will involve lots of vintage rainwear, including 60s & 70s raincoats and lots of epic rain hats. I like to keep my creativity alive by creating collections and then doing a photoshoot to release the collection to the public.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1) Hard work – You can’t get anywhere in life without good, ole hard work! 2) Focus – You have to know what your goal is. Focus on the things to get you to your goal. Everything else is noise. It’s as simple as that!
3) Optimism – Always considering what you have to be positive, will get you far in life. It simplifies things when it gets complicated… by looking on the bright side of everything that comes your way, you will learn to see that you can make lemons out of lemonade every single time. And that brings you sucess every time.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My parents always reminded me to be humble, be optimistic, and to always put in the hard work. And above all, they always told me I could do anything. And this is the ongoing theme in my life. If I want something, I just find a way to achieve it and put in the hard work. It’s always so simple to me. This is definitely a huge gift from my parents, as I know it’s not easy for everyone to reach for the stars.
Contact Info:
- Website: RetMod.com
- Instagram: RetMod
Image Credits
Photos by RetMod®
